TMZ says that Jackson, the last of the original "Idol" judges standing, would continue with the show as a mentor, but would no longer be at the judges' table to call people "dawg" and discuss how they can sing the phone book.

If true, that means that all three of last season's judges would be gone, as Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez's exits were announced earlier this summer. So far, the only official replacement judge is Mariah Carey, though the TMZ report says that Nicki Minaj's deal is "99% done" to join the panel, despite the objections of Carey. The report also suggests that the show will return to a four-judge panel for the first time since Simon Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres and Kara Dio Guardi left the show following the 2010 season.

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What a shit-show Idol has become. It looked to be coming around when they signed Mariah (a world class talent), but then they signed a talent-less singer known for crazy hair-do's and rapping to judge the signing show. FAIL! Now Randy Jackson can smell the blood in the water and decided to bail.

They need to reneg on the deal with Minaj and pay that money to whomever Mariah can convince. She wants Lenny Krvitz, which is a huge upgrade over Manaj. At this point, get a producer that has cred in the industry like they did when signing Jackson. Call Jay Z, offer him $20m a season. That's the only way to keep this show from getting slaughtered (ratings-wise) by the X Factor.